Meaning of 大大
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- greatly
- enormously
- (dialect) dad
- uncle
How to use 大大
As an adverb, 大大 goes before a verb or verb phrase to show a large degree of change, often with words like 提高 (tígāo, to raise) or 减少 (jiǎnshǎo, to reduce). Example: 这个办法大大提高了效率。(Zhège bànfǎ dàdà tígāo le xiàolǜ.) This method greatly improved efficiency. In some northern dialects, 大大 is also a word for dad or uncle.
大 (dà) means big, and saying it twice makes it bigger still. Think of 大大 as "big big," something that grows a lot.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes use 大大 like 很 (hěn) before adjectives, as in 大大高兴. That sounds wrong. 大大 usually modifies verbs of change, such as 大大增加 (dàdà zēngjiā, greatly increase).
大大 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
大 dà · big · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
大 dà · big · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
Related words
Words that share a character with 大大.
| 大学 | dàxué | university; college |
| 大学生 | dàxuéshēng | university student; college student |
| 不大 | bù dà | not very (clear, far away etc); not too; not often; infrequently |
| 大家 | dàjiā | everyone; influential family |
| 大人 | dàren | adult; grownup |
| 长大 | zhǎngdà | to grow up |
| 大部分 | dàbùfen | the greater part; the majority; most; Taiwan pr. [da4bu4fen4] |
| 大声 | dà shēng | loud voice; in a loud voice |
| 大量 | dàliàng | great amount; large quantity |
| 大多数 | dàduōshù | (great) majority |
| 大海 | dàhǎi | sea; ocean |
| 大门 | dàmén | entrance; door |
Questions about 大大
What does 大大 mean?
大大 (dàdà) means "greatly; enormously" and is used as a adverb.
How do you write 大大?
大大 is made of 2 characters: 大 (3 strokes), 大 (3 strokes). That is 6 strokes in total.
Is 大大 an HSK word?
Yes. 大大 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 大大 and 非常?
非常 (fēicháng) means very and usually goes before adjectives, like 非常好. 大大 means greatly and usually goes before verbs that describe change, like 大大改善 (greatly improve).
Does 大大 always mean dad?
No. In standard Mandarin it is mainly the adverb greatly. The meaning dad or uncle is dialectal, used in some northern regions, so context tells you which one is meant.